Talk:Jihad/draft

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Jihad (Arabic: جهاد jihād) is an Islamic term, from the Arabic root jhd ("to exert utmost effort, to strive, struggle"). In Islamic law and the religious beliefs of various Islamic sects, it can mean anything from an inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith, to support for a political cause with religious justification, to military conflict to defend or spread the faith (a religious war).

Among Muslims, some disagreement exists between those who wish to emphasize (both historically and for contemporary guidance) the spiritual aspects of jihad and those who wish to emphasize the military aspects. Many non-Muslims are ignorant of the spiritual meaning of the term within Islam,^[1] or agree with the emphasis on the militancy of jihad, and translate the term simply as "holy war" (and sometimes use that meaning exclusively).

Islamic law and belief

Origins

This section should contain some explanation of where the word "jihad" was used in foundational Islamic documents and later interpretations..

Greater and lesser jihad

Some Muslims distinguish two types of jihad, preferring one to the other:

"Lesser Jihad" (jihad al-asgar): Physically fighting to protect Islam from attack or oppression.

"Greater Jihad" (jihad al-akbar): Internal struggle for the soul (nafs) against evil. For example, to overcome the temptation to sleep when it is time to pray the morning prayer.

This belief has its origins in a hadith.

Translation of the quotation of Mohammad (plus citation) should go here!

Sufism (a mystic tradition within Islam) is particularly known for supporting this distinction and elevation of spiritual struggle, though some Sufis prefer to use the Arabic word mujahada instead of "greater jihad."

Liberal movements within Islam also favor non-violent interpretations.

Gloss to guide re-writing the above?: One side to the debate seems to argue that, more or less: (i) jihad meant both violent and non-violent efforts as early as the birth of Islam, (ii) personal non-violent jihad should be understood by true Muslims as being superior to holy war, (iii) jihad should not be understood to mean primarily holy war today, and (iv) moreover, in many cases where jihad does mean holy war, it really means a defensive holy war.

Sunni scholars consider this hadith to be authentic [2].

So does this mean that mainstream Sunnis generally think spiritual jihad is more important than military? Where do mainstream Shi'a stand? How is the opinion of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community different?

Other Muslims take the opposite view, emphasizing physical or military aspects of jihad.

Salafism is a conservative denomination within Sunni Islam, which has been revived in the Wahhabi school of thought Islamic scholar and alleged alleged? founder of Salafi thought, Ibn Taymiyya famously criticized this hadith's elevation of spiritual struggle over military struggle. He went so far as to say that "Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions, and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind." [3]. As related from him by Ibn al-Qayyim toward the very end of Rawdat al-Muhibbin: "I heard our Shaykh say, 'The jihad of "nafs" (the inner self) and "hawa" (desires) is the foundation of jihad of (sic) the disbelievers and hypocrites; one cannot do jihad of (sic) them before he first does jihad of his nafs and hawa, then he goes out and fights them.'"

The following paragraph is very confusing, and seems to be an example of the opposite of the Salafi view above..."jihad of the ego"?

Ibn al-Qayyim, another Salafi imam, also writes about the jihad of the ego as the "prime" (al-muqaddam) and "most obligatory" (al-afraD) jihad in al-Fawa'id, Zad al-Ma`ad, al-Ruh, and Ighathat al-Lahfan.[4].

In the below: It's not been made clear...is the dispute over which type of jihad is separate from or the same as the dispute over what Mohammad said or what he meant?

Although there seems to be a controversy about the authenticity of hadith, Muslims generally agree upon the importance of struggle for purification of self (Jihad bin nafs).

Gloss to guide re-writing the above?: The other side seems to argue, more or less: (i) the primary understanding of the meaning of jihad, both today and historically, is holy war; (ii) the use of jihad to mean personal struggle is primarily a Sufi tradition that has been seized upon by jihad apologists, but does not have a historical basis outside the Sufi tradition.

Five modalities of jihad

It is unclear which branches of Islam believe this, and what the source for this information is. Also, how does it relate to the greater/lesser distinction and controversy?

Traditional Muslim scholars explained there are five kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):

Jihad of the heart/soul ( jihad bin nafs/qalb) - an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid.

Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) - a struggle of good against evil waged by writing and speech, such as in the form of dawah (proselytizing), khutbahs (sermons), and political or military propaganda.

Jihad by the pen/knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm) - a struggle for good against evil through scholarly study of Islam, ijtihad (legal reasoning), and through sciences (such as military and medical sciences).

Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) - struggle of good against evil waged by actions or with one's wealth, such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage (seen as the best jihad for women), taking care of elderly parents, providing funding for jihad, political activity for furthering Islam as a political movement, stopping evil by force, or espionage.

Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) - armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war (qital fi sabilillah).

Jihad as warfare

Classical Islam expounds an elaborate military doctrine which lays down the basic rules of war (such as proscribing how prisoners must be treated) as well as a political ideology of global expansion.

In such fighting, no woman, child or innocent civilian is to be harmed, and no tree is to be cut down. (From List_of_Islamic_terms_in_Arabic#J. True?)

Traditional Islamic doctrine divided the world into two parts: the Dar al-Islam ("land of Islam" - Muslim territories), and the Dar al-Harb (land of war - non-Muslim territories).

The concept of warfare in Islam is of two distinct types: defensive jihad, which is defense of Muslim lands, and offensive jihad which is the military conquests of non-Muslim lands (hence the term, "land of war").

The articles defensive jihad and offensive jihad discuss Islamic legal aspects of these two concepts in detail, while the article on Islam as a political movement discusses the Islamic political ideology that jihad seeks to further.

Shi'as believe that only Prophet Muhammad and the twelve Imams had authority to declare positive jihad of the lesser kind. (From List_of_Islamic_terms_in_Arabic#J. True?)

Universality

Is this universally applicable? Can this be sourced?

In as much as jihad is a struggle, it is a struggle against all that is perceived as evil in the cause of Islam; it is seen by Islamic theology as a cosmic and epic struggle spanning time and all dimensions of human thought and action, and transcending the physical universe.

Afterlife and jihad

Which sects of Islam believe this?

In terms of eschatology (the study of the afterlife), Islam exalts jihad as the greatest deed, in its canonical literature. The Qur'an distinguishes between "those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and persons" and "those who sit and receive no hurt," exalting the former above the latter [Qur'an 4:95]. According to various canonical hadith, there is no deed equal to jihad in reward during the afterlife [Bukhari. Volume 4, Hadith 44].

Is this true? Is this belief uniform? What would be an authoritative source?

It is often said that Muslims believe that those who are martyred during jihad receive 72 houris ("fair women of Paradise" awaiting devout Muslims in heaven). This is not exactly true; in actual fact, the belief is that all who enter heaven receive the 72 houris, not just martyrs. However, as said above, Muslims do believe that martyrs receive a higher (but usually unspecified) reward than civilians.

Related terms

A person who engages in any form of jihad is called a "mujahid", meaning "striver" or "struggler". This term is most often used to mean a person who engages in fighting, but, for example a Muslim struggling to memorize the Qur'an is a called a mujahid.

Views from outside Islam

The September 11, 2001 attacks, the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, the July 2005 London bombings, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, its 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and other events in the "War on Terrorism" have generated a tremendous amount of discussion and media coverage in Western culture. Most Westerners have become familiar with the term "jihad" in the context of Islamist terrorism. Some non-Muslim Westerners were already familiar with the non-military aspects of jihad, and others have taken the opportunity to learn more about the religion.

In English, "jihad" is usually used either as a synonym for "holy war" or "war", or in the context of Islamist terrorism.[5]

The English neologism jihadist is sometimes used to describe militant Islamic groups, instead of the more general Islamic term "mujahid".

In the United States, a part of the public debate about terrorism included questioning whether Islam or religion in general is inherently violent.[6] Surveys by The Pew Charitable Trusts showed that in 2003, 44% of Americans felt that Islam encouraged violence more than other religions. This fell to 36% in a 2005 survey. (To put this in some context, in 2005, 39% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Islam, and 55% had a favorable opinion of Muslim-Americans.)^[7] Those who feel that Islam encourages violence no more than other religions point to acts of terror by Christians, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.

Examples

Military jihads

Main lists: Islamic terrorism, List of wars in the Islamic world

Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran declared a jihad against the Kurds in 1979. (See Kurdistan.)

In 2001, government officials in Sudan spoke of the raids on African tribespeople in the Darfur as a jihad. (See Human rights in Sudan.)

Osama bin Ladin declared a jihad against the United States government in 1998.[8], [9]

Saddam Hussein considered the fight in Iraq against the United States, the United Kingdom, and their allies to be a jihad. [10], [11]

The struggle to assert Arab control over the historical territory of Palestine has often been termed a jihad. (See, for example, Middle East Campaign and Hamas.)

In 2003, the Deobandi and Braveli schools endorsed jihad against the United States, given its "crusade" against Afghanistan and Iraq.[12] They were joined by other leaders, but there was some ambiguity as to whether some were calling for armed fighting vs. unarmed resistance. [13]

In April, 2005, the mufti of Chechnya, Sultan Mirzayev, declared a jihad against Wahhabism and terrorism.[] Others Chechen clerics followed in August, 2005. [14]

Political jihads

In 2004, Afghanistan's interim president Hamid Karzai declared a jihad on drugs in his country, paralleling the War on Drugs instituted by United States President Richard Nixon in 1971. (See Prohibition (drugs).)

Mamata Banerjee, an Indian politician, declared a political jihad in 2005 against the industrialization policy of a rival party.

Jihad as holy war in Western culture

This blogger [15] declared a jihad on his dirty bathroom.

jihadwatch.org acknowledges spiritual meanings of "jihad", but has dedicated itself to monitoring the threat it says the religious doctrines supporting armed jihad represents to the West.

Similar terms

Footnotes

^ A Pew survey found that in 2003, 42% of Americans could "identify the Koran as the Islamic equivalent of the Bible". In 2005, that figure was 51%. In both years, 48% could identify Allah as "the name Muslims use to refer to God". ^[16]

References

^ "Views of Muslim-Americans Hold Steady After London Bombings" (survey results). The Pew Trust. July 26, 2005

Later sections have been incorporated into the main article. -- Beland 10:16, 9 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]